Fastening device



Dec. 19, 1967 H. CVLASEN 3,358,338

FASTENING DEVICE Filed Jan. 10, 1966 Inventor- Huh/7'04 f cfn UnitedStates Patent 3,358,338 FASTENING DEVICE Heinrich Clasen, Brandholzweg,Burg in Dithmarschen, Germany Filed Jan. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 519,700Claims priority, application Germany, Jan. 27, 1965, C 34,960 1 Claim.(Cl. 24-117) The present invention relates to a fastening device. Morespecifically, the invention relates to a fastening device forfrictionally holding filaments. Still more specifically, the inventionrelates to a fastening device for fastening shoe laces.

The conventional way of tying shoe laces by knotting them is relativelydifficult, particularly if the lace are to be tied in the dark, bypersons who are handicapped or infirm, or by small children. This is sobecause tying of a knot or a bow requires considerable coordinationwhich in small children is not yet present, and which the infirm orhandicapped persons may have largely lost.

Ways and means have been sought to provide relief in such circumstances,and various suggestions have been made to overcome the problem. Forexample, fastening elements have been provided with openings throughwhich the ends of the shoe laces can be placed and with slots, forinstance tapering slots, in which the ends of the shoe laces are thenfrictionally secured. However, this still requires a fair amount ofcoordination and skill and, moreover, the shoe laces are subject toconsiderable Wear and tear at the identical point in each tyingoperation. Also, each end of the lace must be secured separately withthese devices, and this of course results in an increase in thedifficulties, rather than in a decrease. In another arrangement which isknown in the prior art, the shoe laces are clamped. The drawback thereis that the device must exert a relatively strong pressure to maintainthe shoe laces in the holding device against displacement. By the sametoken, a relatively great amount of strength is required on the part ofthe user to overcome this pressure when inserting and withdrawing theshoe lace ends from the holding device. Moreover, such devices generallycannot be operated by persons who have, for instance, only one arm orhave lost the use of some fingers.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide afastening device which will overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide afastening device which requires for its use but little manual skill andcoordination.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fastening device whichcan be operated even in the dark, by the handicapped and infirm, and bysmall children.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide a fastening devicewhich is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Yet an additional object of the invention is to provide a fasteningdevice as described hereabove which can be easily released, and in whichthe shoe laces or other filamentary material with which the device isused are not subject to any significant amount of wear.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention I thereforeprovide a fastening device for frictionally holding filaments,particularly for tying shoe laces. This tying device may comprise awinged member having an apertured hub portion and a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced wings on said hub portion. The member may befurther provided with respective recesses between adjacent ones of thesewings so that, after a portion of said filamentary material is passedthrough the apertured hub portion from one to the other side of themember, that portion of the material which extends beyond the other3,358,338 Patented Dec. 19, 1967 side can thereupon be inserted into therespective recesses and guided along opposite sides of consecutive onesof the wings.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section through a modified embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of still a further modified embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line IV1V of FIG. 3.

Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly FIG. 1 thereof, itwill be seen that there is provided a winged member 1, having a hubportion provided wtih an aperture 2. Spaced circumferentially about themember 1 and separating adjacent ones of the wings provided thereon arefour recesses 3, 4, 5 and 6. These recesses thus define the wings 3, 4,5 and 6'. The recesses are so arranged that two recesses are alwayslocated opposite one another. Preferably, the recesses taper inwardly inthe direction towards the hub portion, that is towards the aperture 2.The ends 9 and 10 of a shoe lace are inserted from one to the other sideof the member 1 and a knot (not numbered) is tied in them so thataccidental withdrawal of the ends 9, 10 through the aperture 2 isprevented.

In operation of the novel tying device, the two ends 9, 10 together arefirst inserted into the one of the recesses, for example the reces 3,passed along the underside of the Wing 3 into the recess 4, and fromthere along the upper side of the wing 4 into the recess 5. This isrepeated until the ends 9, 10 again are received in the recess 3.Thereafter, the ends 9, 10 are given a left turn underneath the member 1and arethus frictionally held between the underside of member 1 and theupper side of an associated shoe.

Advantageously, the device will be positioned in such a Way that therecess with which the tying action begins and in which it subsequentlyends-points towards the toe of the respective shoe. The ends 9, 10 willthen be pulled in the direction of the toe after they have been giventhe left turn underneath the member 1.

To release the ends 9, 10 it is simply necessary to first reverse theleft turn by describing a right turn, and then to pull the ends 9, 10 ofthe lace in the direction towards the toe of the respective shoe.Thereby the shoe lace ends will unwind from the member 1 by firstsliding over the upper side of one of the wings, then over the lowerside of the next, and so on until they have been completely removed fromthe member 1 which, during this process, performs a wobbling rotation.

As is evident from FIG. 2, the member 1 may be of more than one crosssectional configuration. In FIG. 1 it is shown as having a flatunderside and a convex upper side, and this may also be reversed and theupper be made flat, With the underside convex. However, as shown in FIG.2 the member 1 may also have a lenticular shape, that is it may bebi-convex in that both the upper and the underside are convexly shaped.This is of advantage in that it enables an easier sliding movement ofthe ends 9, 10 over the respective wings.

Yet a further embodiment is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and it will be seenthat in FIG. 3 the member is designated with reference numeral 14 and isshown as having three recesses 11, 12 and 13 which are circumferentiallyspaced at indentical intervals. The upper side of each of the wingscarries an' upwardly extending projection re spectively designated 15,16- and 17 and each of these projections 15-17 is provided in itsradially outwardly directedlateral-facewith a recess soas to provide anoverhanging edge 19' which defines a groove with the surface of therespective wing. The hub portion is again provided' with an opening,here designated with reference numeral 18.

Operation of the device of FIG. 3, which is shown in section" in- FIG.4, is the same as that described with refer'encc-t'o-FIG. 1. The onlyexception is that, rather than simplypassing over theupper side of therespective wings, the ends 9, of the shoe lace are placed into thegrooves defined by the overhanging projections 19, and'arethereby'fir'rnlyheld against undesired sliding-off.

Various different materials are suitable for the novel tying device, andsynthetic plastic material is advantageously used. Also, the basicdevice can be covered with various materials; such as plastic, foil,leather and similar materials, if this should be considered desirable toenhance its appearance or, for instance, to provide a smoother surface.

The invention has been described herebefore with reference to a tyingdevice for" shoe laces. However, its rang'eofapplicability is by nomeans exhausted in this description. For example, this device can beused as a closure for bags utilizing draw strings, which latter can beplaced'around the device in the same manner as shoe laces. Again thedevice can be used as a tying arrangement for temporarily separating orsecuring the many small-gauge wires of multistrand communication cables.In such a case, the device may be provided with more than one aperturein the hub portion thereof, one for each wire or group of wires, andthis possibility, as well as various other possibilities which willofierthemselves readily to a'person skilled in the art, isintended-to-be encompassed in the protection sought.

Itwill be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also-find a useful application in other types offastening devices differing from the types described above.

' While'the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied ina fastening device, it is not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madewithout departing in any way from the spiritofthe'present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowle dgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of thisinventionand,- therefore, such adaptations should and are intended'to becomprehended within the meaning a'nd'ra'nge of equivalence of thefollowing claim; 7

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A fasteningdevice for frictionally holding filaments, particularly fortying shoe laces, comprising a winged member having two convexly shapedfaces, an apertured hub portion at the thicker medial portion of saidmember, and a plurality of spaced Wings extending outwardly from saidhub portion toward the-thinner portion of said member and definingbetween themselves inwardly tapered recesses so that, When filamentarymaterial is passed through said apertured hub portion from one to theother face of said member, that length of said material which extendsbeyond said other face can thereupon be threaded through said recessesand along opposite sides of said wings, said wings comprising two pairsof wings with the wings of each pair being diametrically opposite oneanother and with all of said wings being equidistantly spaced about thecircumference of said hub portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 726,794" 4/1903 Flower 24-1301,050,716 1/1913 B611 24-427 2,025,663 12/1935 I'uliano 24-90 39,5448/1863 Bradford uh 24 1'17 509,707 11/1893 Vachon' 24 117X 1,046,49312/1912 Ring 24- 12'9'X 1,225,623 5/1917 Duxbury' 24-129 1,327,5911/1920 Charles.

FOREIGN PATENTS 498,291 1/1920 France.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

